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These cheesy skillet meatballs in marinara sauce are so flavorful and a true comfort food dinner! Tender turkey meatballs are stuffed with a cube of gooey mozzarella cheese and simmered in marinara sauce. Serve them on top of pasta or with a side of crusty bread and a caesar salad!
Meatballs are a favorite comfort food of mine. You may have guessed that by the amount of meatball recipes I have on my site. Greek meatballs and orzo skillet and skillet enchilada meatballs are just a couple of my favorite skillet meatballs.
These skillet meatballs really hit the spot when you’re craving Italian food. They’re packed with garlic, basil, and oregano, plus a secret ingredient! A cube of mozzarella cheese is stuffed into the middle of the meatball for maximum cheesiness! It’s what truly makes these Italian meatballs unique.
You can easily make this for a weeknight dinner. Jarred marinara sauce cuts down on the prep work and cooking time, and the meatball mixture is all made in a one bowl. And as the name suggests, everything cooks in a skillet, which means less dishes to wash.
Ingredient Notes
Olive oil – Olive oil is needed to cook the meatballs in the skillet. You just need enough so that they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan, 1-2 tablespoons.
Ground turkey – Skip the extra lean ground turkey and use lean ground turkey, which contains some dark meat. This will add flavor to the meatballs and keep them moist.
Egg – The egg acts as a binder to hold the meatballs together.
Panko – I love to use panko when I make meatballs because it yields a lighter and more tender meatball in comparison to regular bread crumbs. You can swap them with bread crumbs if you prefer.
Worcestershire – Adds a delicious savory flavor to the meatballs.
Garlic – There has to be garlic in meatballs in my opinion, especially Italian meatballs! Grate the garlic so it melts into the meat mixture. You can also use a 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder.
Basil and oregano – Dried basil and oregano are the dried herbs that give the meatballs lots of flavor. Sometimes I swap basil and oregano with 1 1/2 – 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning.
Mozzarella cheese – Part skim or whole milk mozzarella cheese can be used. Block mozzarella should be used since you’ll be cutting some of it into cubes.
Marinara sauce – Use your favorite jarred marinara sauce. Rao’s is what I always use. You can also make my homemade easy marinara sauce.
Tips for Making Skillet Meatballs
- I don’t recommend using 99% lean ground turkey. It will yield dry meatballs. Stick to using 93% lean 7% fat.
- Don’t overwork the meat mixture or the meatballs will be tough.
- Use a cookie scoop to scoop out the meat mixture so that the meatballs are all the same size.
- Coat your hands in olive oil or cooking spray when forming the meat mixture into meatballs to keep it from sticking to your hands.
- Use enough oil to coat the bottom of the skillet to prevent the meatballs from sticking. They’re ready to flip when they release easily from the skillet.
- Don’t cook the meatballs on too high of a temperature or they will burn on the outside and be raw inside. Medium heat is best.
- The meatballs don’t need to be fully cooked when you add in the marinara sauce. They will continue to cook while they simmer in the sauce. The internal temperature of turkey (and chicken) to be safe for eating is 165° F.
Substitutions and Variations
- Ground turkey can be substituted with ground chicken, ground beef, or ground pork,
- Swap dried basil and oregano with 1 1/2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning.
- Bake the meatballs instead of cooking them in a skillet. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake the meatballs on it for 10-12 minutes at 450° F.
- The meatballs can be made gluten-free by using gluten-free panko or bread crumbs.
Storage
The meatballs will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months. You can freeze the meatballs with or without the marinara sauce. Defrost the frozen meatballs in the refrigerator overnight before reheating them.
Reheat the meatballs in a skillet over medium heat until warmed through or in the microwave. I like to add a little extra shredded mozzarella on top to freshen them up.
More Meatball Recipes
I have a lot of bowl recipes on my site and a few of them are meatball bowls. These Greek chicken meatball bowls, sesame chicken meatball bowls, and honey chipotle meatball bowls are a few of my favorites.
If you prefer to bake meatballs on a baking sheet, I think you’ll love my sweet and sour chicken meatballs and spinach artichoke dip meatballs.
Skillet Meatballs in Marinara Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound lean ground turkey 93/7% is best
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 1/4 cup panko, gluten-free if needed
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire
- 1 clove garlic, grated or minced
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 3 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 3 cups marinara sauce
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine the ground turkey, egg, panko, worcestershire, garlic, basil, oregano, salt and pepper with your hands.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop the meatball mixture. Take one of the pieces of cubed mozzarella and stuff it into the center of the meatball, making sure to cover the cheese completely with meat. Repeat the process until all of the meat mixture is gone.
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add in the olive oil. Place the meatballs in the skillet and brown them for 2 minutes then flip them over and brown another 2 minutes.
- Pour the marinara sauce evenly into the skillet and turn the heat down to medium low. Cover the skillet with a lid (or loosely with a piece of foil if there isn't a lid) and simmer the meatballs for 10 minutes. Top the meatballs with the shredded mozzarella and serve.
Notes
- Swap dried basil and oregano with 1 1/2 – 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning.
- Leftover meatballs will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge or you can freeze them for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If you make these Skillet Meatballs, please leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love hearing from you and do my best to respond to your comments. And if you’re on Instagram tag @reciperunner so I can see your beautiful creations!
Lovely recipe
Thank you!
Could you give me some idea of how big in size the meatballs are.. how many does 1lb of ground turkey make. I will be cooking for quite a few people and having them buffet style. Thank you
Hi Joyce,
I usually get 20 meatballs out of 1 pound of ground turkey.
thank you.
Can you make the meatballs earlier in the day and refrigerate them uncooked?
Absolutely! Just be sure to cover them with plastic of keep in an airtight container.
How in the world did you keep your meatballs from sticking to the bottom of your skillet? I used a liberal amount of cooking spray and I have misshapen, sad looking meatballs. Luckily they’re covered in sauce and cheese, but do you have any suggestions for type A perfectionists like myself?
Hi Maris! A good skillet is important. I have a very well seasoned cast iron skillet so that definitely helps. A good non-stick skillet coated generously in the cooking spray should work as well. If you don’t have either or are finding that they are still sticking try giving it a spray halfway through the cooking or you can always just use a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Hope this helps!
It looked so yummy to be so easy and fast! The tip for the ice cream scooper was great as well!
Thanks Leslie! I have a drawer full of different sized ice cream scoops that are perfect for so many recipes!
Looked amazing and tasted amazing! So easy and delicious. Definitely saving this as a favorite recipe. Thanks!
I’m so happy to hear you liked the meatballs Erika! They are one of my favorite easy dinners!
I made this tonight and my Husband LOVES it! Thanks!
Yay! Thanks so much for trying out the recipe!
What a great recipe. Simply delicious and went right into my recipe box as my “go to” meatball recipe. I will be making it again soon and definitely will make enough to freeze some. Thanks, Connie
Thanks Connie! So happy to hear the meatball recipe made it into your recipe box! I love freezing a batch of them to pull out when I need a quick dinner.
Great recipe, love turkey mince, this is a great way of using it #TastyTuesdays
Thanks Richard!
Hi Danae. I am going to try this recipe tonight. Question- if I want to freeze some, do I freeze before I add them to the skillet to cook or after it is all done? I read a comment about freezing (which I need to do as I’m cooking for just two), but I want to be sure I do it after the correct step. Thanks for your help!
Hi Gretchen. If you plan to freeze some of the meatballs go ahead and follow the directions through step #6. Cook the meatballs in the skillet, but then remove the ones you plan to freeze before adding in the marinara sauce. Hope this helps!